Cultivator



(ModeL) 0. LA- DOW.

GULTIVATOR.

No. 251,252. Patented Dec. 20,1881.

N. PETERS. Phola-Lilhographar. Washin tompfc.

TATES PATENT. Fries.

CULTl VATO R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 251,252, dated December 20, 1881. Application filed August 6, 1881. (Model-) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES LA Dow, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of Albany, and State of New York, have inventedanew and useful Improvement in Cultivators; and I do hereby'declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the drawings and letters of reference thereon.

Thisinvention relates to an improved method of attaching independent teeth to the frame of the machine by which a uniform cutting pitch may be maintained and lateral motion of the teeth prevented, and to flexible locking devices for enforcing their cut, and to the manner of regulating their penetration, and for carrying them when not in use, and for changing their pitch in relation to the ground.

Figure 1 shows a top view of my invention. Figs. 2 shows aside view of the locking arms orlinks and various positions of the teeth. Fig.

3 is a sectional view, illustrating the manner of attaching the locking arms or links to the teeth by means of adjustable clamps. Fig. 4

is a rear view of the tooth.

The principle upon which this improvement is based is that of opposing levers placed preferably in parallel planes, held at proper distances apart by connecting links or blocks, and arranged in such manner that the rearward strain on one lever will be counteracted by the other, which exerts a flexible locking tendency upon the independent teeth in all positions of theirmovements, allowing them to rise and fall to suit the inequalities of the surface, and at the sametime enforcing uniform cutting action on all the teeth,some of which may be trailing in a furrow while the adjacent ones may be working on a ridge. The links and parallel levers also brace the teeth against lateral strain and hold them at uniform working pitch during upward and down ward movements. Each tooth may thus independently conform to the inequalities of the surface at all times, the op-' posing levers enforcing the depth of out, and the runner ends of the teeth preventing too deep penetration, and at the same time acting as stops to prevent overturning sods while the points of the teeth are cutting through them.

clamps and a section ofa be pierced with a slot, s,

In the drawings, A represents the pole; B, the cross-bar or frame; 00, the wheels; E and E, the parallel locking and bracing arms; D and D, the adjustable clamp-links for hinging the teeth 1,2, and 3 to the parallel arms, and K the brackets for hinging said arms to the frame. The clamps D and D clasp the teeth, and are held in any desired position thereon by bolts 0 0. These clamps are made in two parts, one of which, D, is provided with lugs d d to embrace the part D in order to retain it securely. The clamps regulatethe pitch of the cuttingend oftheteeth,and consequently their inclination to draw down into the earth, which tendency is aided by thelockingparallel armsE and E when rearward strain is applied to the teeth. The desired pitch having been ascertained, the pointsof the teeth enter the earth until their runner ends bear upon the surface, thus gaging the penetration of said points.

The lever H and bar G (which may be hinged at any convenient point) may be used to elevate the teeth or depress them in order to make them enter very hard ground.

R is ara-tchet for holdingthe lever and teeth in any desired posit on.

The arms E and E' are provided with feet e c, said feet serving as hinges in the brackets 70. a a are hinges at the teeth. The arms E and E brace the teeth against lateral motion, but allow them free vertical movement in either direction, and said arms cause the teeth to maintain a uniform cutting position when said teeth are working up and down. The runner ends of the teeth press upon the earth and hold sods from overturning while thepoints of the teeth are cutting through them.

The arms of the bar G may be pierced with holes, and the lower ends of the lever H may for moving said bar nearer to or farther from its fulcrum, and thus increase or lessen the range of movement of the arms E and E. The arms E and E are attached one to the inside and the other to the outside of the teeth, in order to the better withstand therocking strain against the teeth, in which position arm E and arm E the forward thrust.

It will be observed that the length ofthe runner ends ot'theteeth may be regulated by means counteracts the draft the adjustingclamps to vary the depth of t as well as the inclination or pitch of the 2th.

It will also be observed that the treth may raised, carried, or lowered, and, it'desired, ld down to their work by the lever H and r G.

[t will also be observed that the teeth are inpendently hinged to the cross-bar by bracklinks and bracing-arms, which brace and id the teeth against lateral play, but which ow them free motion up and down.

Runners may be used on the cross-bar inad of wheels, and as many teeth and links Ly be used in a machine as desired, and they Ly all be arranged in one gang or in several, may be mounted on arms of equal or uneal lengths, and either rigid or spring teeth y be employed without altering the princies of my invention, which contemplates aging teeth independently to independent rallel or looking arms, which enforce the cut the teeth during all changes of position, and tee them against lateral strains, and which 0 cause the teeth to maintain a uniform cutg position, whether raising or lowering. :leretofore the spring-teeth of barrows have an attached to the harrow-fra-me by placing aend of. the teeth on a seat formed on a ider and clamping it thereon by means ofa ss-barand binding-nuts. Spring-teeth have 0 been formed in the are of a. circle and fixed the barrow-frame in such manner that the nt ends of the teeth serve as gages to limit :depth of harrowing; but in these prior ar- Igements the spring-teeth have. not been ipted to freely riseand fall in vertical planes,

and therefore they are essentially different from my invention.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. In a cultivator, the combination of the pole, cross-bar, wheels supporting thesame, teeth independently hinged thereto, parallel arms or links arranged to brace the teeth against lateral motion, and .hinges for connecting said links directly to the cross-bar and teeth.

2. In a cultivator, the combination ofthe pole, cross-bar, wheels, teeth, parallel locking and bracing links, hinges for the same, avbar for raising the teeth, and alever for controlliu g the position of the bar.

3. In a cultivator, the combination of the draft-frame, teeth independen tly hinged thereto, parallel arms for locking each tooth indepen den tly against rearward strains, and clamps for adjusting the pitch of the teeth.

4. In a cultivator, the combination of a tooth free to rise and fall vertically and devices arranged to hold one end of the tooth in position to gage the penetration of the other end.

5. In a cultivator, the combination ofa tooth free to rise and fall verticallyand devices arranged to hold one end of the tooth in position to depress the material acted on by the other end of said teeth.

6. In a cultivator, the combination of pole A, frame B, wheels 0 0, independent teeth 1, 2, and 3, laterally-bracing arms E and E, and links D and K, as and for the purpose set forth.

CHARLES LA DOW. Witnesses:

ltrenmm I. DUMARY, JNO. A. WoLFF. 

